Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1990 · 13 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesAstronomyPhysicsObservational AstronomyOpticsX-ray AstronomyDetector TechnologyX-ray DetectionX-ray DetectorsX-ray OpticsX-ray TelescopesX-ray TimingAstronomical X-ray DetectionDetector IntegrationDetector Spatial ResolutionMirror SystemsSoft X-ray AstronomySpatial Resolution MeasurementX-ray Imaging OpticsX-ray Mirrors
The capabilities of the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC), the main instrument of ESA's 'Cornerstone' mission in X-ray astronomy with multiple mirrors (XMM), are discussed. The CCD characteristics, spatial resolution, energy bandpass and faint source sensitivity, spectral resolution and sensitivity, and timing capability are addressed, and the scientific rationale of the EPIC is summarized. The EPIC instrument system concept is briefly described.